Last events of the year

So this weekend was likely the last opportunities for mingling with fellow trans people until the new year. Unless I happen to go to the local LGBT bar for new years eve, but that is far from decided.

I had two outings, Nottingham Invasion on the Friday, then a trip out to Lincoln with Ann on the Sunday.

Invasion

I was meant to have the Friday off, but there is considerable pressure to get year end activities finished
early so nobody has to work over the festive period, so I ended up working for nearly the whole day.

I did still manage to find time to do my nails and have a shower and shave - I waited until the afternoon so it would really be 3 days (had to wait due to the laser). 

With Joanna being at a loose end, I offered to take her along, she had mostly never been available to come along for previous ones. 

It was likely we would venture outside of the 'New Foresters' pub to try a few other places, so I was dressed in a sensible warm blue Next jumper dress that has had a few outings this month, paired with knee high boots to keep the pins warm.

Got down to Joanna's in good time - I took the petroleum powered car for ease.  We headed into Nottingham, parked at the Victoria Centre as normal. I hadn't eaten so I grabbed a cheeky Mc Plant before we cut through the shopping centre to the pub. 

There were quite a few girls there, it can sometimes be quite a small affair, but was well attended. Spoke to Rachel for a bit, and a lady I have not spoked to called 'Joanne' - just to confuse matters. Danielle turned up a bit later on - was nice to talk to her. Joanna seemed to be getting on well with Rachel which was nice to see, she lives in Nottingham but not sure where.

There was a few girls who I knew from LFF who were there, but I didn't really get chance to speak with them. But I see them every month at LFF so will have plenty of other opportunities. 

We did the 'Lord Roberts' which I had been in before at least once - it had some nice beers, will have to ensure we do that again if I am ever staying over to enable drinking. Then we headed to the 'Hockley Arts Club' but it was closed due to a private party. So we went to the 'Six Barrel Drafthouse', had one in there, and then back to the Foresters. 

There was a drag act on there, but think was wrapping up, and was pretty tired, so decided to head off at that point - it was after midnight. Dropped Joanna off, and headed home. Was eating cold pizza in the kitchen at 2am :) 

All in all a nice night - not anything exciting, just a steady one, and nice to meet up with Joanna and Danielle, and introduce Joanna to her local friendly bar - although there wasn't much there for a more refined beer connoisseur :)

Lincoln

Was Ann's last opportunity for freedom this year on the Sunday, so she invited me along to see the bright lights of Lincoln. I've had a few people tell me it was a nice place to visit, and had been on my list for some time, so was nice to finally get to do so.

It was going to be a cold day, so I put on an fairly warm jumper dress, and my big coat and knee highs again.  I also took gloves and a beanie just in case.

Wife wanted her car for church in the morning, so was burning electrons to get there, stopped off at Markham Moor Starbucks on the way there. Paid my 40p to get over the toll bridge on the A57, and got to the car park about 11am.

Met Ann, and we headed up 'Steep hill' which did little to get me warm, but did live up to it's name.

There was a Santa fun run going on near the cathedral, but seemed to be coming to an end, and we could still get through to have a look around. Headed to the café first for a scone and a tea. Then we looked around for a bit, and took advantage of having a camerawoman to get some nice shots for Insta.

Then we headed on out to the castle, but it seemed a little expensive, so we didn't bother with it. Instead we went to a nearby museum, which was free - the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. It had some interesting stuff, and it was warm inside, which was nice :)

Next we headed back down the hill, perusing a few shops here and there on the way down. Then we did the shopping centre, miraculously not managing to buy anything ! 

Then was lunch time so we headed for a Tudor inn that was built on a bridge over the river 'Stokes'.
Had a light lunch in there, I think I had Ham Brie and Cranbury sandwich - it was lovely.

Then some more time around the shops in the lower part, ending up near the Brayford pool, where we had a final coffee and cake of the day at the Costa in the cinema foyer. 

It was past 4 now, dark, wet and the shops were mostly shut, so we decided to call it day and headed
home.  I had to stop off at Markham Moor on the way back, the chargers at Mc Donalds were both in use, so I diverted to the Inn on the other side of the roundabout -  which was available, and did a top up there.

The range estimator is way off in the winter, so I made sure to get at least 20 miles more than I needed. I was driving at 65 most of the way back and only had 10 miles left when I got home, so had eaten into the contingency as expected. Not sure it would have made it at the speed limit.

Didn't sleep too well last night, too much caffeine after midday :) - but it was a fun day. Definitely want to go back in warmer weather.

 

 

What Zombies Can Teach You About Fuddle

I couldn't think of a title, so I used a generator 😁 , I was pleasantly surprised....

Thursday the 8th of December , Chameleons Xmas Fuddle 

Changing room selfie

Was really looking forward to this, as figured it would be well attended, and also Joanna was going to be there - it had been quite a long time since we met in person. I had some boots I had been meaning to let her have for ages.

I also had some nice dresses that needed an outing. I had originally decided to wear a silver sequin one I had bought while shopping in Leeds the week before, but after getting ready, and modelling for my long suffering wife, our collective opinion was that it was a bit too much.

I have no objection to wearing xmassy dresses throughout the year, so perhaps it will get out in January.

I spent a while getting my makeup on, I haven't actually worn eyeshadow a great deal recently, but had plenty of time so did a split pink and blue look I had seen someone on Insta do, think it turned out pretty well.

Ended up changing into a lovely quiz black diamante dress which I was also chomping at the bit to wear out. I have a lot of dresses, but I REALLY like that one. 

It is a pain in that you get foundation over the neck taking it off, but have found shaving foam to be good at getting it out.

I do really need to try and tame my waistline for it, but December is probably the worst month to start. 

Anyway outfit aside it was a really nice evening, lots of people there, lots of nice food, lovely atmosphere. It allowed the formation of smaller groups, which I find easier to join in conversations with. 

Would put it down as one of the best Chams meetings of the year. I have been continuing efforts to try and get certain people to come along, only really got Ann so far, but resistance is futile and all that.

It snowed on the way back, not too badly. I ended up stopping off at Woodall again. I discovered that if you plug into a unit that is also being used by someone else (some allow 2 cars to charge at once), it still charges slower when they disconnect. So you need to stop your charge, and re-start to take full advantage of the unit's output.

The Weekend

Friday I had the day off, but my son was at home due to lack of teachers, so I decided not to do an adventure day. I did go out for a run in the early afternoon, which meant I was too tired to do anything for the rest of the day 😊

I thought about going out on Saturday night, I even got ready to do so, but with the football being on, I figured it might be dead at my local LGBT friendly bar. So I ended up just doing a load of outfit try-on's, which also gives me some more Insta content.

Sunday I had to work in the morning, and then got the xmas tree up and did some tiding in the afternoon.

Oh and I started a youtube channel too, put one up with more from my foggy day out at Nostel the other day. Not really sure how people are going to find it, so I stuffed the title of the video with keywords.

Keeping them short, as that is the in thing apparently - I had good fun making it, and I take way too many photo's that I could hope to use on Insta or on here, so a good use for them.

Tuesday the 13th

This was my 2nd Laser session, which went really well. I shaved at 10pm on Monday night - I did manage to cut myself though. Likely because it was a new razor  - they want you to use a new one, I think to ensure the ends of the hairs are flat to absorb more of the light. 

I also remember to use my exfoliating sponge too.

It didn't hurt nearly as badly, I think mainly due to it being less sparse, so absorbing less light/heat. She turned it up a bit too.  The jawline was particularly bad last time.

It's been about 7 hours since and it doesn't feel very bad at all, will put some more Aloe Vera gel on before bed.

I have myself booked in for January, she wanted to do the 5th, but that would have been the day before LFF so was no good, so got it for the week after.

Foggy reflections

Tuesday the 29th

I was on leave for most of the week, and it was coincidentally coming up on exactly 12 months since my first jaunt outside the house. I had gone to Nostel Priory, a big old house not too far away.

It was meant to be a foggy day, and I figured it would be nice to re-visit, and get some nicer photo's than the first time I went. My idea was to try and wear as much of the same outfit as I originally had on.

I didn't fancy the wig, as that was pretty bad now, and not really my style. Also my original boots didn't actually fit, and had given me blisters on my little toes, so those were swapped for the gothic-ish biker boots I bought before getting my haircut on the Monday.

But I had the dress and the coat, and the glasses on still, not that you could see much of the dress in the only half decent shot I got last year, 2021 left, 2022 right :

There is a church on the grounds not far off the main path to the house, and I found a nice looking lamppost, with a convenient switch for the budding photographer to make use off - Yet another thing that will be on the list if hell exists. Probably not near the top end though.

I took a lot of shots, and probably far too many with my coat off, it was quite chilly. So I probably only have myself to blame for the sniffles that affected me for days afterwards.

Was mainly using my tripod and Bluetooth remote this time, bit more of a hassle to setup, but a lot better results.

After this, I went to the café at the visitor centre, and warmed up with a nice coffee and a cake. I do love coffee and cake on my adventures. It was surprisingly busy, but managed to get a seat. Nipped to the loo, then decided to head into the woods to take some more photo's. 

I recall feeling truly very happy, it was nice to be back, and to be wandering around not trying to avoid people, trying to say hi to the friendly looking ones. It was very nice to be back and to reflect on how things had changed in the past year. 

The first time was obviously more of an adrenaline rush, this just felt really really nice.

It was getting on, and was getting cold again, and I had nearly run my phone flat, so decided to head back to the car. 

Thursday the 1st of December

This was Trans-Wakefield - I had a cunning plan, Ann was up here early for the LFF the next day, so I had suggested we meet up at my Wakefield group in the 'New Union' an LGBT bar in Wakefield.

There is a quiz on Thursdays nights too.

I don't normally do that well at the quiz, and figured she would likely be a good asset to have on hand for it. Anyway we won !!! - well there were two others helping too. 

I stuffed up the play your cards right thing they do for a jackpot, but I'm sure that's rigged.

I thanked Ann by mercilessly beating her at pool, and celebrating as if I had won the world championships, I'm nice like that. 

But I did give her a lift, so at least she could have a few beers, and I think she enjoyed socialising with the rest of the group.

Friday the 2nd of December - Leeds First Friday

This would be the last month we will be able to use the Marriot hotel bar, as it's been sold to a restaurant , and even if they want us back, it's going be shut for months while they 'renovate' it.

This is a shame, as it was really good for first timers to be able to get dressed in their room, come down and socialise without even having to leave the safety of the hotel. 

I wasn't feeling that good, I had been on cold and flu pills since Wednesday trying to keep my sniffles at bay - my main concern was rubbing all the foundation off on my top lip when I blew my nose. But I managed ok.

Anyway things proceeded as normal, I got a lift in with Ann, and we did coffee, a bit of shopping, ate a tasty bagel at the Flamingo's, more shopping. Then met up with a few girls at Foley's tap house for a few real ales.

I tried a 'sour' , reminded me of my attempt at elderberry wine, not trying one again 😊

My friend Hannah who I had gone to Manchester pride with was coming in on a train, and would be ready by about 4pm, so went back to the hotel to meet up with her. 

We ate at Wagamama's - having failed to get a table at Las Iguanas - I had shredded duck. It was OK, probably wouldn't have it again.

We came back and got dressed for the evening, I had found a black dress with red satin floral design in my wardrobe the previous week. 

You know you have an issue with buying too much when you forget you own it. It wasn't as Christmassy as many of my usual dresses really, but perhaps more classy 😊

Went down to the bar and tried to assist Hannah in finding some more Insta-friends she wanted to try and connect with in 'real life' ™  We were moderately successful.

There was a group photo scheduled for 8:30 - I think because it was the last Marriot one. Somehow ended up at the front - I didn't barge my way there I promise.

After this we did a tour of the usual haunts, Viaduct, Fibre, Smokestack and the New Penny. Did a lot of dancing in the Smokestack. Hannah was a little tipsy, so we decided she should get her to bed. But made sure she got some chips in her first. 

The takeaway was really fun, they were cheering when the order numbers were called, and there was a nice atmosphere in there. Although the chap in front of us was doing his best to ensure that nobody behind made the mistake of ordering the kebab meat.

We got her to bed before 2am, I made her a peppermint tea, got her wig put somewhere sensible, and tried to make sure that she didn't attempt to have a drunken shower, as she wasn't walking too well. 

I was ready for my own bed by that point so headed off to sleep. 

There was a LGBT fair at a hall somewhere the next day, but was pretty tired, so after breakfast and meeting up with Hannah for a coffee before her train, just came home.

Saturday was a bit of a write-off, but worth it.

 

Sculpted hair

Thursday 24th -  East Midlands Outlet + Chams

Using up more of my leave, I had booked off Thursday to the following Wednesday off work.

I had intended on going on an adventure pre-chams on the Thursday, but the weather was pretty pants so I didn't get out in the afternoon, but was at least mooching around the house dressed.

I was giving a blue jumper dress I had purchased at the J32 outlet it's first go out of the house.

I had agreed to meet up with Ann for food at the East Midlands Outlet before heading to Chams. It is

north of Nottingham just after Tibshelf services so on my normal route down.

We had a coffee at Costa and then a look around at things that were too expensive. Did some photo's with the xmas decorations of course, then headed to Wagamama.

I haven't done much eating with chopsticks, but managed it OK.  I think I had "chicken gyoza ramen". It was nice. By the time we were finished it was time to head to Chams, but we did pop in the makeup shop first. Got a exfoliating sponge, as the laser place said I really should do that.

Also picked up some misshapes to share around at Chams from the Cadburys shop -  a bit of a disappointment, they were all fudges !

We did the short drive to the centre, and I risked putting the car on the church charger - it worked fine this time, made sure to stop the charge on the app before attempting to remove any cables.

The meeting was nice, I didn't say much, I didn't have any earthquake stories :)  , but it's still lovely to be surrounded by trans folk, just being normal. 

Got some fixing spray and mascara from Lynn, need to remember to contribute for those next time.

The church hadn't given me quite enough juice for me to feel 100% confident of getting home with the heater on, so I stopped off at Woodall on the way back. I definitely need to use that one more often - two units which have dual charge capability, so can do 4 cars at once. Although only one CHAdeMO connector.

Friday 25th - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

With the weather much nicer, I took the opportunity to head to the sculpture park for the day. 

I got there at 12:30ish, and headed to the café for lunch. There was a school group hanging around, I assume from near Liverpool given their accents, I was wary of them a little, but got no trouble.

The hot food counter had a turkey meatloaf - I assume thanksgiving themed, but it didn't seem popular there was a whole tray of it left. They have me two portions due to this :) - It was gorgeous, and I was very stuffed afterwards ! 

Drank my coffee and did the indoor exhibits in the main building, there were some weird dolls with animal heads, bit creepy. Went outside and down to the other gallery to see some Robert Indiana's - it was still on from my June visit. 

Found a lovely one outside with the sun in a nice place to get some light behind it.

Then headed down to the glass house, which was still closed, and found they had moved the massive handbag sculpture there. 

Went down to the lakes and decided upon a walk around the upper lake, as I tended to always do the lower one, I may have never done it before.

Found a grotto to take some more shots in, and managed to get a good one in the entrance of that. 

It was getting to around 3:30pm by the time I ended up back towards the main building, and decided I had enough fun, so should probably go home.

It was a very relaxing afternoon.

In the evening I took advantage of having the makeup on , and went through my recent dress purchases and did some try-on's, and made a few sets for Instagram.

Monday - Haircut

I really needed to get my hair tidied up, I'm attempting to grow it long, and it's was perhaps 3 inches on the top, but was only about 1 to 1.5 inches long on the sides. It had been 2 months since I had been to the barbers. 

I hadn't been keen on going back there, as whatever I say to them, it's going to come out looking fairly male, so I figured I would give SuperCuts a go as although they do chaps, it's mainly ladies, and likely to be a lady I would get. At least from my sneaky looks though the windows on my way past last time.

I went in man-mode, got there 9:30 ish, but there was only one lady working that day, and someone else had beaten me to getting her.  I was told it would be an hour and they would txt me.  So I went around Wakefield for a bit, got some goth ladies boots from Deichman 50% off !! (£20 paid)

Headed back after more wandering, and got their txt as I was nearly back. I had to wait a bit while she finished the first lady, but ended up in the chair, where she asked what I wanted.  I was trying to ask for sort of a pixie type look with long on the top and shorter on the sides. 

I showed her my en femme look on Insta, which isn't really pixie at all. She ended up convincing me that tiding the back up, and allowing the sides to grow more would give me more options. So that was done, she did use some special scissors to take some volume out of the sides so they did lay flatten more against my head - but without losing any length.

It should grow out to be a bit bob-ish all being well. Perhaps I can use a head band, I think Joanna did that.

Also tidied up behind the ears and did a tapered neckline, so although long it's not looking unkempt. 

It should allow me to continue to grow it longer hopefully, without arising too much suspicion - my main fear is Xmas with the in-laws, they haven't seen me in many moons, and never with long hair.

Last time I was meeting them, I was panicking they would notice my ear piercings .... 

Anyway she only charged me £10.95 for it, which isn't brilliant for the small number of minutes I was in the chair, but better than the £19.95 for a full cut. She was very understanding and nice though, which is worth something too.

Celebrated by buying lots of nice food from Sainsburys and headed home. 

Deep South in Derby

Wednesday

I had my first proper session of laser booked for Wednesday at 11:15am, work is quite flexible with time, so I just had an early lunch.

She wanted me to do a close shave between 2 - 24 hours before hand , I didn't want to risk it being too short, so I opted to shave about 12 hours before, at 11pm the night before.

It was a bit like mowing a lawn, a long continuous beam, so it did hurt a fair bit more than the test patch which was short zaps. 

The bits along the jawline and top lip were the worst. It only took 15 minutes for my lower face and my neck. I might have to do a better job with where my sideburns meet my beard growth area next time so I can be sure those are done.

I made sure to put Aloe Vera gel and sun cream on as soon as I got home. It was a bit like having mild sunburn, and also a bit tingly.

Was advised not to shave for 72 hours, and I didn't fancy another man mode social group outing, so I skipped Wakefield this week. 

I eventually shaved for Derby on the Saturday, but that's for later.

Friday

I would normally have gone to Nottingham for the 'Invasion' but it still hadn't been 72 hours and my face was feeling a bit tingly. Also I had said to my parents that I would go over visit them on the Saturday, so  didn't want to be dead on my feet.

This would be the first face to face meeting since I had come out to them a month? ago , so was a bit on edge about it.

So decided the best plan was to get that over and done with on Saturday morning, then I could perhaps get ready in the afternoon and do Birmingham in the evening.

I've never done it before, and it's meant to be a really good night - it's usually the 3rd Saturday of the month.

Saturday

Got over to my parents by 11am ish, and it went OK. I think they have taken the approach that they are just going to carry on as if nothing has happened and not mention it. 

Which is OK I suppose, a very pragmatic and well tested approach to the issue :) 

They were both fine with me, and didn't seem upset with me at all. There were no massively awkward exchanges, although for some reason the boys started talking about gender (not mine), which started to trigger my anxiety a little.

We agreed would have Xmas lunch with them, so that was good too - we take it in turns between mine and my wife's parents.

We ended up staying for lunch, so it was around 2pm before we set off for home. 

After we got home I had a tea to relax than started to get ready. The shave wasn't too bad, but face did feel a bit raw afterward. There were a few of the usual micro cuts, but didn't bleed for long.

I don't think my complexion was nearly as smooth as normal, but it was certainly within acceptable levels to go out. Did feel a bit tingly still under the makeup. I was told not to use any perfumed products, but I think my moisturiser did have some in - but probably not huge amounts.

It was a bit of pants day weather-wise, and it didn't really feel like such a good idea to do a 2 hour drive to Birmingham, but had seem some messages on Insta just before I set off about a meetup of a group of some of my friends in Derby at 'The Crown' which I've had on my to-do list for some time, so I decided to head there instead. 

There is a regular informal Monday night trans meetup there, 

A few of us hadn't eaten so we found an American burger place nearby to have a quick bite to eat before heading to the pub. 

https://anniesburgershack.com/restaurants/derby

Gorgeous food, but service wasn't the best. I had 'The Gringo' which had Mexican inspired additions.

We did the short walk to the pub, and I got a drink in there. I got speaking to a few trans people who I had not met before. One was absolutely stunning, she looked like she had dressed for a fashion photo shoot - turns out she was a fashion student. I may have put my foot in it with her, she looked so good I thought she might be a performer of some sort !  - lots of contouring and bronzing.

There was also a really lovely older lady who had only been out a few months.

It transpired that one of the girls who is really into drag had been promised a slot on an open mic night at a nearby bar.

She had put on some effort with her look, she always looks fabulous. So we headed there, and ended up sat watching the 2nd half of a comedy act in the back room. I think we were meant to have paid to watch, but nobody said anything. 

There were quite a few drunks in the audience - mainly female, who didn't help with the comedians flow, but it was still quite funny.

Unfortunately after he finished they didn't open the stage up, not really sure what happened. Apparently they had done this the last two times too.

A bit a of a shame she had been bricking it all night , and had put a lot of effort in with her look.

So we headed back to the Crown, and had another in there. I was quite tired, not sure why, perhaps I didn't sleep too well worrying about visiting my parents. But didn't really feel as bubbly as I would hope to do on a night out. 

Playing happy families and then heading out dressed for a night out also seems to trigger my guilt. 

Headed off just before midnight, and I was home by about 1am. One of the boys had left me some Pizza in the fridge from a takeaway, so had that for supper :)

Took the makeup expecting to be quite red underneath, but didn't look too bad !

Sunday

Quite tired today again, even though I had a bit of a lay in. Still a bit down, might have to go on the treadmill later, see if some exercise will help. Only working 3 days next week, so that may help.

It's my 12 months Izz-versary at the end of the month, at least the first time I stepped out the house. My name was set in stone when I signed up to the Chamelons forum on the 3rd of January.

https://www.nottinghamchameleons.co.uk

Certainly glad my look has improved a great deal, it's been a fun year. I should probably mark it somehow.

Sharks with frinkin laser beams

Dr Evil: "You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads" 

Chams

As previously mentioned, I have to work from Burton upon Trent occasionally, and where possible I try to do this so I can call in at Chams on the way back - to save some electrons.

This week I managed to do this. I also had the Friday off , and with receiving a recommendation from someone at the Trans-Wakefield group I had decided to book myself in for a consultation for laser hair removal patch test (for my face).

After doing so, I realised I had messed up, as they wanted 48 hours of hair growth to assess the suitability of the treatment.

So I shaved at lunch time on Wednesday, so that I wouldn't look too rustic for my day in the office on the Thursday.

But did mean I would have stubble on Thursday night, and although this would have been fine, I am somewhat vain, and decided I would just go in man mode.

I needed to eat before going there, and had arranged to meet up early with Ann, so we could try the Hickory's Smokehouse which is less than half a mile from the community centre where Chams is held. It also has fast chargers, and I am the only person who I have ever seen use them. 

So got there for just before 6, and did a quick charge to 90% while I was waiting for Ann to arrive.

She was dressed and I wasn't which we've never done before, so it was a little odd. The restaurant was a lot busier then I expected, and we could only get seats at the bar that overlooked the flame grill. It was all very American. But service was really fast, and the food was lovely.

Not somewhere I would take a vegan or vegetarian though. The deserts didn't look to enticing, so we finished up and drove the short distance to Chams.

The night itself was really nice, someone who had not been coming for a while was there, I ended up speaking with them a lot. 

Lots of chatting, and tea, and hobnobs. Other than mild curiosity my mode didn't seem to phase anyone - I didn't expect it to.

I did put my Izzy purple glasses on, to give anyone who wasn't quite sure some help, but most seemed to realise pretty quickly.

Must have got in around Midnight, and opened up some parcels that had arrived while I was out. Screwed up with some boots I ordered - got USA size 8, not UK :(

Lazors

The place is only about 20 mins from where I live, so was easy to get to. They do nail treatments there too, so I got a little high from the fumes in the waiting area. 

Once in with Carly, I had about 10 mins of explanations of how the process worked. She also checked the colour of my hair, I did have some white ones apparently.

The laser heats the hair, and this heat flows down it to kill off the follicle, but there needs to be pigment in the hair for the light to heat it up. 

So this won't work with white hairs - electrolysis is an option for these.

You need also need enough of the hair visible so that the laser has something to heat, but not so much that it's burns off on the surface.

Instructions were to close shave between 2 to 24 hours before hand - depending on how fast your hair grows.

I laid down on the treatment bed thing, and she dry shaved a small patch on my neck. 

Then some kind of fluid was applied to clean the area. Then I was blasted with three short blasts from the machine.

It was a bit like an electric shock, not really that painful. I've had worse from dodgy light switches.

It was all over in a minute, I can't shave that area for 72 hours, and it should go a bit red and blotchy.

Assuming there aren't any issues, I will be good to start my first session next Wednesday - it was recommended to have 8 sessions for the sort of facial hair I have.

The proper sessions are only 15 minutes long, so I can use my lunch hour as well !

It was quite cheap too , there is a 25% black Friday deal on at the moment, and got 6 sessions for the price of 5 too in the normal package.

If anyone is interested, this is their site :

www.laserluxxe.co.uk

Heels of Doom

Trans Wakefield

This was pretty standard as the meetings go, Philippa was there and still seemed a bit under the weather from the cold that she was coming down with at the Halloween do at the previous weekend. But she seemed in good spirits, and had been given some potential options for treatment.

Michelle who I had met at the weekend didn't show up, which was a shame. Perhaps she will come along to a future one.

I did the pub quiz with Zoe who seemed to be on a mission with rum and coke, we didn't do very well, but it was fun.

One of the girls mentioned a local laser hair removal place, which is really near me and I didn't know of. I think I shall try and get an appointment booked soon, at least for a test session. 

I want my face done as the priority, but torso would be fantastic. I'm not bothered about arms or legs, or anywhere else that I can easily shave.

J32, Castleford Friday Shopping

I had booked the Friday off to give me options to go shopping before LFF.

I got ready at a leisurely pace and decided upon J32 at Castleford, mainly because I had never been there dressed.

Chose a fairly warm dress I had bought early in the year at a charity shop in Doncaster, that I had never worn out of the house.

I put on most of my going out eye makeup except for eyeshadow - I figured I could add that before the evening do. My intention was to come home, do minor touch-ups and change before going out in the evening.

But I didn't want to look over the top for wandering around the shops.

I had planned on eating out, and I heard an advert for Starbucks on the way to the outlet, and coincidentally I would be passing a new one on the way.

So decided to pop in there for lunch.  I had a Caramel Waffle Latte topped with whipped cream, and a ham and cheese panni.

Managed to consume both without removing all my makeup, and not eating too much of my wig.

Headed to the outlet and parked up out of the way with the intention of getting some nice shots of my outfit. These turned out to be rather blurry, the selfie camera on the phone is useless, even with it on my selfie stick configured as a tripod.

I have since worked out a cunning plan that involves screen mirroring to an old phone, so I can use this is a view finder and use the main camera on the new phone without being able to directly see it's screen.

Anyway, after wasting 5 mins taking useless photos, I headed to the shops. 

There were a lot of old people around, as previously blogged about I am more nervous around this age range than any other, and maybe it put me on edge a bit.

Did Quiz first, but there was nothing that jumped out at me. Walked around to the next shop and a woman was muttering as she walked towards me, not sure if was about be, or my paranoia was at play.

Tried Clarks next - I had lost most of the end of a heel of my brown Chelsea boots months ago, so was on the lookout for some replacement brown boots.

Ended up in Select, where I found some brown pull on ones, with one pair in my size. Also grabbed some sparkly hoops on the display of temptation next to the till.

Had a look in the mirror shop, I quite fancy having a stand up full length one, but I probably can't justify the expense really. Good place to get a selfie though !

Looked in Roman, Crew clothing, Kurt Muller , Weird fish, nothing too exciting was seen - nothing cheap enough anyway.

The last clothes shop on the loop of shops was Next, where I found a bargain long blue ribbed blue dress for £20. I even went and tried it on. I think this may have been the first time I've ever done so.

I've been in changing rooms before to help a friend get out of one she was stuck in, but had never dared do it myself.

The lady attendant seemed a bit cold with me but other than that was fine. 

Anyway it fitted and looked really nice, so will no doubt be appearing on here at some point soon. Forgot to get a picture of it on.

Then I headed into Beauty outlet, was just going to take a quick look, came out £30 down - exciting new nail varnishes, some 'pout bomb' and a lip liner and some 'mega blush'. None of which I used in the evening !

With all the shops exhausted I headed for home.

Leeds First Friday

I was excited to go as normal, but perhaps a bit more due to not having anyone I knew for sure would be there to meet up with. It would force me to try and find some people to hang out with.

I had chosen a yellow dress that I had got from Everything5Pounds on a sale - was only £2.90 - I had worn it to Chams once, but never out in public. 

This was paired with some purple tiger stripped heel boots that I got from a charity shop in Huddersfield for under a fiver, some rose gold tights and my platinum blonde wig with blue highlights. 

Plus my black leather jacket and black handbag with studs. The heels are a little too small for me, but I really love the look. 

I didn't bother touching up my makeup, I got ready, looked in the mirror and thought 'yeah that will do'.

I didn't get off to a great start, and ended up sat by myself looking lonely - not for long though, a couple from London on their first visit (older CD + CIS wife) beckoned me over to join them. 

We had a nice chat, and seemed like would end up giving them a guided tour. But then some people I knew arrived, and after I introduced them to each other they said they were off to take some photos and assume they found someone more interesting to talk to :)

But they seemed nice, and I have some TvChix names for them, I might log on and add them if my account still works. I mainly only use it for the events page, it seems a bit seedy.

I spoke to Dee and Gabby for a bit, then noticed Alice at the bar, I had spoken to her a few times but didn't know her that well. She tends to stay in the Marriot bar rather than leaving with a lot of the others as they migrate to other clubs and bars. 

She prefers the less noisy environment so she can chat. Turns out she fancied some real ale, but her usual friends wanted to go do the clubs, so she was planning on going to the Foleys Tap House on her own.

It's about half a mile away from the Marriot, totally away from the Freedom Quarter where all the LGBT+ bars are, and my shoes were not really well chosen for the task, but figured would be worth the pain to get to know her better.

So we walked up to Foleys, narrowly avoiding becoming a hood ornament for a bus - turns out I can run in heels if I am fearing for my life.

We had a good talk on the way, and over a few pints (I had halves as was driving) for a couple of hours. It was really nice, there were a lot of very similar experiences in our childhood with regards to mothers 'storing' dresses in our rooms. Coming out to our parents, and the fear of being disowned. Future plans, transition options, coming out at work. It was really nice to get to know each other more.

We left after last orders, I think it must have been midnight, and headed back to the freedom quarter, she was going around York the next day so didn't want to stay up too late, 

but wanted to come to Smokestack with me for a lemonade before retiring. I had a coke in there as I was already up to what I would consider safe to drive on. 

It's not easy to talk in there, and there were no seats free, but I did manage to go talk to another Insta person who I recognised and Alice had gone to talk to someone else too.

I nipped to the ladies and couldn't find where she had gone when I returned, I figured probably bed, and thought that was probably a sensible idea too - my feet were really hurting by this point. She had sent me a message saying she had lost me, so hadn't scared her off :)

I drove home and checked the damage when I got in, a burst blister on my right little toe. But not bad considering how far I had walked.

Cooked a chicken burger and then went to bed at about 1:30am.

Still woke up at 7:30am though, damn body clock !